Canadian friend visiting. Train london to scotland

[Jamiescott1]

Have a friend visiting from Canada in August. She'll be travelling london to Scotland (not sure where yet).
Is there a ticket she can buy abroad that works out cheaper than buying direct from usual uk retailers / UK split ticket options / advance

 

[Snapper37]

Check out the Brit Rail pass, especially if you want to travel around. I assume you will need to buy before you leave Canada.

 

[Watershed]

She can buy a Eurail or BritRail pass. The former is available in "One Country" as well as "Global" (i.e. all of Europe) varieties.

They can both be bought online and as they're available in m-ticket format, there's no longer a requirement to buy them before arriving in the UK.

Eurail passes can be bought directly from Eurail or via a number of third party retailers including My Interrail (which is run on behalf of RDG). BritRail passes are available from ACP Rail or International Rail.

If the only long-distance journey she'll be doing is London to Edinburgh (and back, presumably?) then a pass is probably unlikely to be cheaper, as long as she is prepared to buy Advance tickets reasonably far ahead (i.e. weeks or months rather than days). But a pass does offer complete flexibility, so if she wants that then it will almost certainly be the cheapest option.